NZ athletes have once again made their presence felt on the world stage with skier Jess Hotter and snowboarder Finn Duffy winning their respective categories at the Nendaz Freeride World Qualifier four-star competition in Switzerland.

New Zealand athletes have achieved strong results at the pinnacle event on the junior freeride calendar with Ronan Thompson finishing just off the podium in fourth place in men's snowboard and Alistair Garland fifth in men's ski at the Junior World Championships in Austria.

The world’s premier junior freeride event will take place in Austria this week, with two NZ athletes featuring on the start list. Skier Alistair Garland and snowboarder Ronan Thompson are en-route to Kappl, Austria for the Freeride Junior World Championship (FJWC) scheduled for March 13-15.

NZ freeride athletes have posted strong results at the latest competition in the Freeride World Qualifier series with Jessica Hotter and Blake Marshall now leading the women’s and men’s ski rankings and eyeing places on the Freeride World Tour.

Alice Robinson has posted an impressive result at the FIS World Ski Championships in Are, Sweden, with the fastest time in the second run of the ladies’ Giant Slalom, 17th overall and first place amongst junior (u21) racers.

Alice Robinson has won a European Cup Giant Slalom in Germany, the first NZ athlete to do so since Claudia Riegler in 2001 in Slalom. The 17-year-old now holds the world number ranking for U18 ladies’ Giant Slalom and second in U21.